Tuesday, 2 June 2009

Iron Cupcake: London first challenge - chocolate

I’ve read Sandy’s blog for a long time following the exploits of Iron Cupcake in the USA and often lamented that we didn’t have one in the UK. After waiting for an Iron Cupcake: London to start up it finally dawned on me that maybe I should start it....so I did!

The concept of Iron Cupcake is simple: each month there's a theme, entrants bake cupcakes that address that theme, everyone gets together and eats lots of cupcakes, a winner is declared.

Iron Cupcake: London (ICL) held its first challenge on Monday 1st June 2009 with a theme of ‘chocolate’. You never know whether your obsession is shared by anyone else – for all I knew I might be sitting in a room on my own all evening – but no! London delivered!

ICL’s first challenge had a stunning TEN entries and I’m delighted to say lots of dedicated eaters too. The standard was thrillingly high and everybody tucked in to the delights on offer – it’s amazing how happy everyone is when the only food on offer is cake!

The stakes were high...money can’t buy you one of these...well, it can, because I bought them but you know what I mean:

The prize bag was overflowing....

...with these goodies:

Here is our worthy winner, Anna, receiving the good news. Her entry of chocolate cinnamon sponge with honeycomb buttercream received rave reviews from everyone:

So, sit back, loosen your waistband, have a hanky ready to mop up any drool and see what baked delights you missed out on........

Emma’s chocolate chipotle cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Emma judged the spicing of these perfectly – the heat of the chipotle came through gradually and filled your mouth with a spicy warmth that never burned but definitely made itself known.

Heather’s double chocolate cupcakes

Heather's cupcakes were sinfully delicious. The chocolate was intense and moist with the flaked chocolate on top giving a lovely additional texture. One judge said they really “hit the spot”!

Ying’s chocolate orange cupcakes

The chocolate orange ganache topping was so beautiful that it converted two non-chocolate orange eating judges! The balance of textures was a delight – the smooth indulgent ganache had little crispy chocolate orange pieces in it. A very worthy runner-up on the night.

Kelly’s strawberry and white chocolate cupcakes

What I remember most about these was the intense strawberry aroma that announced itself when Kelly took the lid off the storage unit to plate up. The strawberry flavour was so well balanced with the white chocolate and the combination reminded me very much of the lovely strawberry cream in a Quality Street selection.

Randi’s rich and dark cupcakes were a sinful treat. If you haven’t tried chocolate, cherry and cream cheese frosting together then you’re missing out because the flavours just explode and zing in your mouth!

Jo’s chocolate and vanilla cupcakes

Ah, chocolate and vanilla – a classic. Never disappoints does it? Jo’s idea of putting the frosting on as a big spiral was inspired. It looks terrific! Expect to see me stealing...ahem, I mean borrowing, this idea and using it on a cupcake soon

Alice’s cherry chocolate cupcakes with amaretto ganache

These were so rich and moist they were positively juicy! Imagine a black forest gateau but without the cream and you will conjure up a pretty good impression of how these tasted. The red sprinkles really ‘pop’ against the dark ganache.

Alice’s vanilla and blueberry cupcakes with sour cream icing

Alice is a girl after my own heart- this was her second entry (she also created the cherry chocolate cupcakes shown above). The sour cream icing was delicious – I’ve never had it before and I instinctively knew that one of the most important moments in my life was happening as I tasted it.

Anna’s chocolate cinnamon cupcakes with honeycomb butter icing

The winning cupcake on the night. The chocolate cinnamon cupcake would have been joyful on its own – Anna balanced the chocolate and spice perfectly. But she didn’t stop there, oh no! Add to that a crisp and flavoursome home made honeycomb crushed up into the butter icing with a shard on top and you have a masterpiece! Anna – your cupcakes rocked!

Katy’s fudge brownie cupcakes

All the benefit of a brownie but the bonus of frosting too! These were rich, dense, moist – everything you want from good brownie. The frosting was intensely chocolaty and – in case you’re wondering – yes, Katy did make those dinky little roses on top!

Special thanks to all the great people who helped me plan the event and run it on the night - one person can never be responsible for something like this and I couldn't have done it without you. Hope your generosity extends to helping me with the next one...speaking of which....

...the next challenge is scheduled for 6th July and the theme is ‘summer fruits’. Hope to see you all there.

I leave you with the victor – well done Anna:

All photos are the property of Dave Shipman and reproduced here with his kind permission.

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The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

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Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.